Olympic Mountains

Remember we're learning about the moutain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt on the North American Cordillera.

We just learned about the Insular Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Olympic Mountains.

These mountains have water on three sides, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Seattle to the east.
Because they are surrounded by so much water, the western slopes are the wettest place in the lower 48 states, which doesn't include Alaska and Hawaii.

The tallest mountain in this range is Mount Olympus, which is different from the famous mountain in Greece.


(from: wikipedia - olympic mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Great Bear Lake

Insular Mountains

We just learned about the Coast Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt, in the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in that belt is the Insular Mountains in British Columbia, Canada.

These mountains were made from lava, and created the Vancouver Islands and the Haida Gwaii Islands.
The bottom of these mountains goes below the sea level, which is called not fully exposed.

There are still many earthquakes in this area.


(from: wikipedia - insular mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Baikal

Coast Mountains

We just learned about the Yukon Ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt is the Coast Mountains.
On the west side of these ranges is a temperate rainforest, which then leads to ice fields and glaciers in the middle, and on the east side is plateaus and forests.

This mountain range has the largest bunch of ice fields in the world.


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


(from: wikipedia - coast mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Tanganyika

Yukon Ranges

We just learned about the Talkeetna Mountains in the Pacific Coast Belt of the North American Cordillera.

Another famous mountain range is the Yukon Ranges in Alaska and Canada.

There are a bunch of other smaller "sub ranges" inside the Yukon ranges, called the Anvil Range, Dawson Range, Miners Range, Nisling Range, Ogilvie Mountains, Nahoni Range, Pelly Mountains, Big Salmon Range, Glenlyon Range, Saint Cyr Range, Ruby Range, Russel Range and Wrangell Mountains.

The Wrangell Mountains are mostly from volcanoes, and are some of the largest shield volcanoes in the US.


(from: wikipedia - yukon ranges)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Michigan

Talkeetna Mountains

We just learned about the Chugach Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coastal Belt is the Talkeetna Mountains.

There is a glacier on this mountain called the Mint Glacier, and there is a Mint Valley, and even mountain peaks called the Troublemint and Doublemint peaks.


(from: wikipedia - talkeetna mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Huron

Chugach Mountains

We just learned about the Kenai Mountains.

Another mountain range in the Pacific Coast Belt in Alaska is the Chugach Mountains.

These mountains are right by the Gulf of Alaska, and because of that they get more snowfall than anywhere else in the world, usually getting over 600 inches (50 feet!) of snow per year.


(from: wikipedia - chugach mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Victoria

Kenai Mountains

We just learned about the Pacific Coast Belt group of mountain ranges that are part of the North American Cordillera group of mountain belts.

There are many mountain ranges in the Pacific Coast Belt, like the Kenai Mountains.

The Kenai mountains are in Alaska, and are between 3,000 to 5,000 feet tall.
There have many glaciers on these mountains, as well as rivers that are very popular for fishing.

The mountains were named after the Kenai natives who lived in the area.





(from: wikipedia - kenai mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lake Superior

Pacific Coast Belt

We just learned that the North American Cordillera is a group of five different mountainous areas in North America.

The first area is called the Pacific Coast Belt.

This belt contains four mountain ranges: The Southern Alaska ranges, the Western System of Canada, the Pacific Border Province in contiguous U.S. and the Western mountain ranges of Mexico.



(from: wikipedia - Pacific Coast Ranges)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Caspian Sea

North American Cordillera

We just learned about the Saint Elias Mountains in Alaska.

Most of the mountain ranges we've learned about have been in Asia, as those are the highest mountains in the world.

In North America, there are mountain ranges that are part of a group of mountain ranges.
The word cordillera means a group of different mountain ranges.

The North American Cordillera is a group of five different areas called belts that all have mountain ranges in them.


(from: wikipedia - north american cordillera)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: US Virgin Islands

Saint Elias Mountains

We just learned about the Alaska Range mountains.

The next highest mountain range is the Saint Elias Mountains.

These mountains are on the southern coast of Alaska, right on the pacific ocean.
Because they are on the coast, they are called coastal mountains.
They are the highest coastal mountains on earth.


(from: wikipedia - saint elias mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Puerto Rico

Alaska Range

We just learned about the Andes Mountains.

The next highest mountain range is the Alaska Range.

These mountains are like a big wall blocking warm air from the Gulf of Alaska, so the weather on these mountains is very rough.

There are also earthquakes and volcanoes on this range, even though it is way up north in Alaska.


(from: wikipedia - alaska range)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Northern Mariana Islands

Andes Mountains

We just learned about the Nyenchen Taglha Mountains.

The next highest mountain rage is the Andes Mountains in South America.

These mountains are the longest mountain range in the world, and they go through seven different countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.

The mountain peak of Chimborazo is farther from the Earth's center than any other mountain peak in the world.
This is because near the equator, the earth is wider than other parts of the world.

There are many active volcanoes on the Andes mountains.


(from: wikipedia - andes)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Guam

Nyenchen Taglha Mountains

We just learned about the Kunlun Mountains.

The next largest mountain range is the Nyenchen Taglha Mountains in Tibet and China.

Since these mountains are very far from any large cities and roads, a lot of the peaks in the eastern part of the mountain range have never been climbed.

(from: wikipedia - nyenchen tanglha mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: American Samoa

Kunlun Mountains

We just learned about the Tian Shan Mountains.

Another mountain range is the Kunlun Mountains in China.

There was an old legend of a paradise in these mountains, with a jade palace, an emperor and queen that had magical powers.

(from: wikipedia - kunlun mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Washington D.C.

Tian Shan Mountains

We just learned about the Hengduan Mountains.

The next largest mountain range is the Tian Shan Mountains in China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

The name means sky, or heaven.

It is one of the longest mountain ranges, and was made when the earth shifted and crashed the Indian and Eurasian earth land plates together.

The glaciers on top of the mountains have been getting smaller, and have lost over 5 billion tons of ice in the last 50 years.

(from: wikipedia - tian shan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wyoming

Hengduan Mountains

We just learned about the Pamir Mountains.

The next largest mountain range is the Hangduan Mountains in China.

Three of the great rivers in China run through this mountain range, the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween.
These mountains are also a home to the giant panda.


(from: wikipedia - hengduan mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Wisconsin

Pamir Mountains

We just learned about the Hindu Kush mountain range.

Another mountain range is the Pamir Mountains, in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and China.

They are nicknamed the Roof of the World or the Onion range.
It has the longest glacier in the world outside of the polar regions.
There is a path going through the Pamir Mountains that is part of a very important path long ago called the Silk Road.


(from: wikipedia - pamir mountains)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: West Virginia

Hindu Kush

We just learned about the Karakoram Mountains.

The next largest mountain range is the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Some people think the name means Hindu Killer because of the people that died on the mountain.
Others think it means sparkling snows of India, mountains of India or water mountain.

It was also called Paropamisadae a long time ago, which means Beyond the Raised Land.

Long ago there were mines in these mountains for lapis lazuli, emeralds and rubies.
The mines are not used anymore because they did not find any more gems.



(from: wikipedia - hindu kush)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Washington

Karakoram

We just learned about the mountain range the Himalayas.

The next largest mountain range is Karakoram, which means black gravel.
Because it is near the Himalayas, sometimes it is included as part of the greater Himalayan mountain range.

This mountain range is in Pakistan, India, China, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

It has the most glaciers of any place in the world except for the north and south poles.

(from: wikipedia - karakoram)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Virginia

Himalayas

We just learned about the 14 tallest mountain peaks like Shisapangma, that are all over 8,000 KM above sea level.

Some of these mountain peaks are part of the same mountain area, which is called a mountain range.

The tallest mountain range in the world is the Himalayas, which means Abode of Snow. Abode means house.
It is the mountain with Mt. Everest, the highest peak. There are over a hundred mountains on this range, and hundreds of lakes.



(from: wikipedia - himalayas)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Vermont